bo
/boʊ/interjection, noun, particle, phrase
bo is spelled B-O: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Bo, the name). As an interjection, bo means “An exclamation used to startle or frighten” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bo?
| Letters | 2: B-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bo?
Bo appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Bo, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bo?
- UK /bəʊ/
- US /boʊ/
As a particle (“Final interrogative particle, used to invite agreement”): [boː˨˦], /bəʊ/, /boʊ/.
Bo has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-bo.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bo
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bo?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bo from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bo
- boh
- boo
- bos plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
An exclamation used to startle or frighten.
noun
- 1
USslangFellow, chap, boy.
- 2
A quarterstaff, especially in an oriental context.
particle
- 1
Final interrogative particle, used to invite agreement.
Swee bo?
- 2
Final interrogative particle, forming a yes-no question from a declarative statement.
noun
- 1
informalInitialism of body odor or body odour.
- 2
Initialism of business object.
- 3
Initialism of box office.
The film is expected to gross more than $100 million at the domestic BO.
- 4
Initialism of bronchiolitis obliterans.
verb
- 1
Initialism of bind off.
phrase
- 1
Initialism of best of: Often directly precedes an odd number.
Best-of-three (bo3) Group Stage Match Information
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does bo come from?
Imitative.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).